I shook my head. “Parisa said this is the first time they’re having it here. Before they drove down to Boston to celebrate.”
I’d met Parisa a couple of months ago at a networking event for local business owners. She owned a home goods boutique in the nearby town of Maple Glen. We’d hit it off and now messaged each other most days to chat about our lives and businesses and everything in between. The other day, she’d invited me to her town’s inaugural Iranian New Year, or Nowruz, celebration.
Lars parked, and I pushed my door open, crinkling my nose at the horrendously loudcreak. I threw my brother a pointed look. He loved his vintage Volvo truck, even though it had the bad habit of breaking down at inconvenient times.
“Don’t give me that look,” he grumbled.
I patted the truck’s light blue frame. “I know Gustav has been good to you, but you do know Volvo has actually come out with cars this century, right?”
I jumped to the side to evade his shove.
“Hey!” Olive shouted. “Don’t be mean to Lucy.”
“But she insulted my truck!”
I laughed at how petulant he sounded.
“That’s no excuse for violence.” Olive sniffed and joined arms with me.
I stuck my tongue out at my brother as we headed toward the entrance of the Maple Glen fairgrounds. I’d been here a couple of times growing up when the traveling carnival came to town, but it hadnever looked like this. The air pulsed with vibrant music and laughter while kids ran circles around the food booths and the adults greeted each other with warm hugs and cheek kisses. Lines of orange and pink streaked across the sky as the sun danced lower, and the dozens of small bonfires scattered around the field made everything glow.
We stopped at the entrance to wait for the rest of our group.
“What’s the deal with the fire?” Easton asked, tripping over his feet before slinging his arm around Olive’s shoulders.
“Iranian New Year is the first day of spring, but tonight is the bonfire celebration and you’re supposed to jump over a fire to symbolize leaving the old year behind,” I said. When Parisa had explained it, something had clicked inside me. Maybe this was what I needed—a ritual to cleanse my life of all the bad energy and encourage new beginnings.
“Seems unsafe,” Finn grumbled.
“You don’t have to do it if you’re scared,” Olive said sweetly, and I snorted a laugh.
Finn and Easton had practically lived at my house growing up, and it was fun to see the wild boys I knew become overprotective alphas.
“Oh, they’re here!” Easton said, waving his arms above his head.
Ivy and Summer skipped toward us with linked arms while Ivy’s guys—James, Rome, and Logan—jogged to keep up. The transformation in Ivy these past few months had been so special. She’d always put so much pressure on herself with her teaching job, and seeing her relaxed and happy, doted on by her pack, warmed my heart.
Summer and Ivy half crashed into us, and we piled into a tight omega hug. The tension in my chest eased. No matter what happened in my life, I had my friends. I would be okay.
“I’m starving,” Summer said once we pulled apart. “I can’t wait to check out the food scene.” She rubbed her hands together, a gleam in her eye. She had always been the foodie of our group, but it was even more true now that she was close to opening her bakery. Every meal was an opportunity for research.
We slung our arms around each other and headed into the festival,laughing as our shoulders bumped against one another. We hadn’t gone far when someone shouted my name. I turned and my heart leapt when I spotted Leo Azad—Parisa’s brother and my newest neighbor.
The storefront beside mine had become available this past winter when Ms.Ito retired, closing her long-standing gift shop that inexplicably specialized in socks with unique messages on them—I was currently wearing my “Jump Rope Is the Meaning of Life” pair. Summer had long been convinced that Ms.Ito was running a money-laundering scheme because there was no way her fancy sports car and designer bags were funded by socks. However she got her money, she’d decided to sell her shop and travel the world, accompanied by a string of attractive men. Leo had purchased it a few months ago and opened a thriving florist business.
The firelight danced across his warm skin as he approached. My eyes flitted down his body—only because he was wearing the black pants I tailored for him and the red shirt I’d embroidered with gold thread,notbecause I found his muscular thighs and arms distracting.
Luckily, Olive saved me from having to form actual words.
“Hey, Leo!”
“Hey, Olive. Your alphas staying out of trouble?” he asked, smirking as he glanced back at Lars, Easton, and Finn. Leo had been on the ocean rescue team that had saved Olive’s guys when they crashed a boat in a storm last year.
“Mostly.” Olive grinned. “They haven’t even capsized a boat this week.”
Finn pulled his omega to his side with a scowl. “Be careful, pretty girl.” He leaned down and murmured something in her ear that made her cheeks turn bright red.
A pang of loneliness and jealousy seized my chest, but then Leo turned his attention to me. “Parisa said she’d invited you, and I was hoping you’d come.” He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture that I found ridiculously endearing.
